Data from the Department of Veterans Affairs reveals nationwide 20 veterans per day commit suicide, a number that accounts for nearly 20 percent of all suicides committed in the U.S. every year.

Military Times has the story:

Roughly 20 veterans a day commit suicide nationwide, according to new data from the Department of Veterans Affairs — a figure that dispels the often quoted, but problematic, “22 a day” estimate yet solidifies the disturbing mental health crisis the number implied.

In 2014, the latest year available, more than 7,400 veterans took their own lives, accounting for 18 percent of all suicides in America. Veterans make up less than 9 percent of the U.S. population…

The new study includes more than 50 million veterans’ records from 1979 to 2014, including every state. The data, compiled over the last four years, also comes from the Centers for Disease Control.

Furthermore, Military Times reports that 70 percent of veterans that commit suicide do not regularly tap into Veterans Affairs services – more evidence the bureaucratic department is doing little to address the mental-health concerns of those who have put their lives on the line to protect freedom at home and abroad. Click here to get involved and help Tea Party Patriots fight big-government bureaucracies that leave our veterans behind.